Cigar lighter



June 13, 1950 R. BURCHETT CIGAR LIGHTER Filed July 5, 1948 Afl @adw' Patented June 13, 1950 CIGAR LIGHTER Ray' L.v ldurcl'iett,l East Orange, N. J., assigner to Ronson Art Metal Works, Inc., Newarkr N. J.,

a corporation of New Jersey Appli'cationJub? 3, 1948, SeriallNo. 36,929

2 Claims.

The invention relatesto` cigar lighters in which the wick and associated operating parts are. carried by a shell which eniclosesa fuel, charn-` ber serving the wick and is detachably mounted at the open end ot a main supporting barrel or casing, the features of the invention being particularly advantageous for use in combined lighters and pencils or pens. To charge further fuel into lighters of the above type the shell is removed from the barrel, and1 the liquid. lighter fuel' is then introduced into the shell or barrel or both, after which the shell is reinserted into operating position at the end of the barrel. The present invention aims primarily to provide a lighter construction of the above character will be substantially sealed against the evaporation of lighter fluid in use, and. nevertheless avoid flooding of the wick when the shell is reinserted into operative position, as hereinafter more spefcically set forth. Furtherob-jects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the description hereinafter contained which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred form of cigar lighter which is constructed to operate in accordance with the invention; the disclosure however should be ycon- Sidered asv merely illustrative of the invention in its broader aspects. In the drawings- Fig, 1 is a side View partially in section of a combined lighter and writing implement constructed to operate in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The invention is disclosed as applied to a com.- bined cigar lighter and writing implement, having an elongated barrel I at the upper end of which a cylindrical shell 2 is detachably mounted, the shell 2 carrying a wick tube 3 within which wick 4 is received, and also a sparking wheel 5 pivoted upon an axle 6. The axle 6 is shown as supported between ears 'I extending up from the shell 2, on opposite sides of the sparking wheel 5. A iiint tube 8, having an adjusting screw 9 will lbe understood as receiving a, piece of sparking metal which is held in contact with wheel 5, this tube being shown as of straight or unbent configuration and supported by an internal bracket I near its lower end. A snuer member I I is also shown as pivoted about the axle B and this snuler is opened by downlward pressure upon a ngerpiece I2 pivotally connected at its upper end to the snulfer by a pin I3, and having lugs I4 (Fig. 2) in its lower 55 2y portion, which slidably engage with an attachment clip member I5 which latter is fastened to shell I2 and extends downwardly therefromv along barrel I.. A spring. member I6 urges the iingerpiece toward its upper position: in 'which snuffer II- is heldclosed by the spring.

The shell 2` is provided with a downwardly extending annular skirt I'I which fits telescopical'ly within the upper open end portion of barrel I, and thus thel aboveI described operating,v parts of the lighter may be removed asa unit from' barrel I by endwise detachment of shell 2. A fuel chamber I8 is surounded by the skirt Il, this chamber usually con-tainingabsorbent material such asa cotton wadding and preferably having an4 absorbent pad I9 surrounding the tube 8 at the lower open mouth of the shell. In the illustrated form of. the invention the lower portion of the barrel I surrounds a tube 2B which may be Aunderstood as 'containing an appropriate writing implement. which latter isnot to' be described in detail, and the annular space 2l between the tube 20 and shell I is preferably used as an auxiliary fuel containing chamber having absorbent filling and provided with an absorbent pad 22 similar to the Ipad I9 previously described and pressed into fuel conducting relation thereto when the parts are assembled in operating relationship.

When the shell 2 is withdrawn from barrel I, ordinary lighter fluid may be charged either into the fuel chamber I8 or the auxiliary chamber 2 I, or both, the two fuel lchambers being in fuel conducting relation so that the fuel will pass to wick 4 from both chambers. To minimize evaporation of fuel, the barrel I and skirt I'I are provided fwith a close telescopic lit, but a duct is provided to relieve the building up of internal gaseous pressure in `fuel chambers I3 and 2l while the shell is being inserted into the barrel, until the shell nearly reaches its final seated position against the upper end of the barrel. As

shown, the outer surface of skirt Il is provided with a longitudinal channel or duct 23 which exn tends from the lower end of the skirt nearly but not quite to the upper end thereof. Thus as the shell is pushed into the barrel, during which movement it acts like a piston, the duct 23 will allow the gases which otherwise would be trapped in the fuel chambers to vent outwardly above the upper end of barrel I, until the shell has nearly reached its final seating position, but as the shell approaches final operating position, duct 23 will pass below the upper end of barrel I, and Iwill thus be sealed. This pressure re lieving feature minimizes a too rapid supply of fuel to the upper end of wick Il which otherwise ls prone to occur after recharging with fuel, if the engagement between barrel I and shell 2 be made tight enough to avoid undue evaporation and loss of fuel between the engaging surfaces.

Preferably the shell I is provided with a detent 24 which is loosely received in duct 23 to hold the shell 2 and barrel I in approximate alinement and prevent twisting movements between them. This will prevent the clip I5 from scoring or bearing against different areas of barrel I as the parts are assembled or disassembled, since they will t together only when detent 24 is alined with duct 23. Preferably the ngerpiece I2 and clip I5 overlie the detent 24 so as to conceal the latter, and any incidental wear on the surface of barrel I will be covered by the clip and ngerpiece, the detent 24 being alined with the clip and flngerpiece in assembling the parts, to insure engagement in proper relation to each other.

While the invention has been disclosed as applied to a cigar lighter of the above described specific construction, it should be understood that changes may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cigar lighter of the character described, having an open ended supporting barrel, a shell member located at said open end of said barrel and carrying a wick and an igniting mechanism therefor, said shell member having an inwardly projecting annular skirt enclosing a fuel supply chamber for said wick, said skirt being telescopically engaged within the aforesaid end portion of the barrel, and said skirt having extending along the outer surface thereof, a pressure relieving duct which is n communication with said fuel chamber, said duct terminating at a point below the aforesaid end of the barrel when the shell is in operating position, to seal the upper end of said duct, said barrel having in the wall thereof a detent which is loosely received in said duct, and said shell also carrying an external clip member which overlies said detent when .the barrel and shell are assembled in operating relationship, to approximately aline said clip member with said duct.

2. A cigar lighter of the character described, having an open ended main supporting barrel, a shell member detachably seated at said open end of said barrel and carrying a wick and an igniting mechanism therefor, said shell member having an inwardly projecting annular skirt `enclosing a fuel supply chamber for said wick, said skirt and the adjacent portion of said barrel having annular walls fitting closely to substantially seal said fuel chamber, but one of said walls having a duct extending therealong exteriorly of said skirt to relieve internal gaseous pressure between said shell and barrel during assembly thereof, one of said skirt and barrel members having a detent positioned to slide along said duct during assembly of the shell and barrel, said shell carrying a ngerpiece extending downwardly along the exterior of said barrel and positioned to overlie said duct and detent structure.

RAY L. BURCHETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,820,131 Fischer Aug. 25, 1931 2,016,901 Isenberg Oct. 8, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country v Date 122,745 Great Britain Feb. 6, 1919 

